670 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 11 



rifyinjj, at the source, the great and most efRcient foun- 

 taia of public instruction in our country. But there 

 is yet a batter founded hope, (than any resting merely 

 on resohitions and enactments on paper,) for this most 

 beneficial result, on the ground of the kindly feelings 

 produced and nourislied between editors who then 

 first knew each other personally, and wlio met as ene- 

 mies, and who, without exception, as editors, acted to- 

 gether, and parted, as friends. Even if no \'ote had 

 been taken, and no r:'cord of agreement made, we feel 

 assured that it is impossible that the conciliator_v and 

 friendly and delightful intercourse tiien commenced 

 and maintained, can ever be forgotten, or entirely lose 

 its influence in restraining the future disposition to re- 

 sume the personally hostile attitude, and course of 

 personal invective and criinination, which have been 

 alike degrading to those who used, and those who suf- 

 fered such modes of editorial warfare. Though our 

 own peculiar position has secured us from a participa- 

 tion in this very general course of procedure, we re- 

 joice, as every citizen and patriot should rejoice, at the 

 fair prospect of hereafter preserving the press of Vir- 

 ginia free from this foul reproach. Still, the tempta- 

 tion to break through this proper restraint will be al- 

 ways besetting political editors — and all the members 

 of the convention will require to bear constantly in 

 . mind the admonition of their president — ''prenez 

 garde .'" — Ed. Far. Reg.] 



At a convention of the editors of Virfrinin, held 

 pursuani to notice, in the Capiiol, on tiie i7th Jan- 

 uary, 1838 — Thomas Ritchie Esq., was called to 

 the chair, and Wm. iM. Blacklbrd appointed sec- 

 refary. 



Mr. Ritchie, on taking the chair, addressed the 

 meeting as follows : 



'^Gentlemen — 1 thank you for the honor you 

 have done me; though I am not vain enough to 

 ascribe this distinction to any thing else than my 

 years. I have long passed for the " veteran," 

 and by courtesey for the " venerable," editor of 

 the Enquirer; and althoufrh the epithet might have 

 been given to me long belbre 1 deserved it, yet I 

 am sensible that years are giving nie some title 

 to it, and that every day is only calculated to con- 

 -firm it. I am sure, that none of you, gentlemen, 

 will envy me the advantage of my years, or the 

 pretensions they may give me to the honors of 

 this chair. 



"But with all my experience, I have acquired 

 but little knowledge of parliamentary law. For- 

 tunately, I shall have but little occasion for it. 

 Our convention is too small, to encourage the ve- 

 hemence of debate. No long or violent discus- 

 sions are likely to disturb the order of our proceed- j 

 ings — and I may sati^Iy trust to that spirit ol' har- 

 mon}', for which, you kivnu, our caste has been so 

 long and so justly celebrated, for our protection 

 against disorder. 



" We have assembled here, gentlemen, under 

 the hope of improving the character and condi- 

 tion of the important profession of which we 

 are members. The press is indeed the 'crreat 

 magician' of the age. Wherever it is established, 

 it is diliusing light all around it. It is promoting 

 the progress of every art. It is extending the 

 sphere of every science. In our own country it 



IS a necessary agent — and if properly conducted' 

 It would be an inestimable instrument. How can 

 a free government be wisely administered without 

 it? How can a free people ac(]uire that knowl- 

 edge of facts and of characters, which is so ne- 

 cessary to the proper selection of their agents? 

 A republican government presupposes, indeed, 

 that the people can govern themselves — and how 

 can a poople continue free, unless they are en- 

 lightened? The press is the great instrument of in- 

 formation. It is indeed an essential part of the 

 composition of a free societ}^ which is scattered 

 over so extensive a territory as that of the United 

 States. The fact verifies the theory. Scarcely 

 do we settle a viliaate in the "far west," scarcely 

 have we erected an inn, a blacksmith's shop, and a 

 store, belbre our inqusitive countrymen begin to 

 think of the press. It has been pronounced, "the 

 art, preservative of all arts.'^ So familiar are we 

 with its value, that we almost wonder how the 

 ancients could have got along without it. 



" J8ut, sirs, the press is generally of more bene- 

 fit to others, than it is to i:s own conductors. No 

 profession is more irksome or laborious. None 

 imposes such serious sacrifices, as this does upon 

 the consciencious editor. His labors are " still 

 begining, never ending." He is constantly roll- 

 ing the stone of Sisyphus up the mountain; and 

 it is forever roiling back upon him. He is toiling 

 day and night. He is literally a prisoner in his 

 own caslle. Exercise and fresh air, are too fre- 

 quently denied to him. You, who know " the 

 secrets of your prison house," can only know 

 what exertions it requires, and what privations it 

 imposes upon you. You know, fbr you only have 

 seen and felt it, to what cares, both of body and 

 mind, he is subjected — how tedious are his vigils, 

 how anxiously he sits by his solitary fire, in the 

 depth of the night, listening fbr the returning 

 fbotsieps of the poor "devil" who is bringing him 

 the proofs of the manuscript, which, with the spi- 

 der's ingenuit}', he liad been compelled to spin out 

 of his own brain. 



" And where is the compensation which he 

 reaps fbr so many sacrifices and services — fbr so 

 severe and laborious an exercise of so important 

 a profession? You must have been more fortu- 

 nate, gentlemen, than I have been, if you have 

 acquired the treasures of Croesus, or the purse of 

 Fortunatus. I have served as Ions: tin appren- 

 ticeshij) as any of you; but I can lay claim to no 

 such acquisition. We are rich only in our ledgers. 

 We never are — "but always to be Dlessed," We 

 are the martyrs to that expanded system of indis- 

 criminate credit, which has overspread our coun- 

 try — but no other class of society has suffered as 

 much by it as we have. Our cornucopias are 

 filled; but not with gold and silver, nor even with 

 with bank notes; but with our subscribers' bills. 

 !t is time fir us to change the system and correct 

 the evil. This is one of the present objects, fbr 

 which we have convened here to da}'. We must 

 adopt some measures to prevent the multiplication 

 or promote the collection of the debts, with which 

 our offices have been so sorely taxed. We must 

 do that justice to ourselves, which so many others 

 refuse to us. We have not met here, gentleman, 

 to combine against society, by raising our wages; 

 but to compare our respective situations, to exam- 

 ine the evils under which we are all laboring, to 

 devise some measures of relief, to advise each 



